1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a retractable surgical blade device and an associated method and, more specifically, to a retractable surgical blade device having a removable blade assembly.
2. Background Information
Traditional surgical scalpels are well known devices used by surgeons and other medical personnel to make incisions into patients or for the purpose of dissection. Scalpels are specialized knives typically consisting of a handle member and a removable surgical blade disposed on one end of the handle. The surgical blades, in order to be effective, are extremely sharp and must be handled carefully by all personnel involved in the surgical procedure in which the scalpel is used.
Because the traditional scalpels have exposed blades, the chance of accidental stabbing or cutting of medical personnel is great. In addition to the injury caused by the cut or stab itself, infectious viruses and/or bacteria can enter into the cut or wound during the surgical procedure. Many infectious diseases can be transmitted between the blood of a surgical patient and an open wound of medical personnel inadvertently cut by the surgical blade of a scalpel.
Medical personnel may be protected from accidental scalpel wounds by a retractable surgical blade device such as the ones disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,531,754 and 6,254,621 which are incorporated by reference. The retractable surgical blade device includes a handle and a blade assembly. The handle defines a channel. The blade assembly includes a blade on a body member, or slider. The blade assembly is structured to be movably disposed within the handle channel. The front end of the channel includes a stop which allows the blade to be extended therefrom while preventing the slider from passing therethrough. Thus, medical personnel may move the blade assembly between a first, withdrawn position, wherein the blade is disposed within the channel, and a second, cutting position, wherein the blade extends from the channel. These designs for “safety scalpels” present an elegant solution to the problem of exposed blades during surgery.
Such safety scalpels typically include a plastic handle and a blade assembly, that is, a plastic slider with an attached steel blade. With these materials, safety scalpels are relatively inexpensive and were intended to be disposable after use on a single patient; however, as the cost of medical devices in general continue to increase, many health care organizations are looking to cut costs wherever possible and are attempting to find ways to reuse such safety scalpels. Further, plastic scalpels tend to be relatively light weight and lack the heft of metal scalpels. Many surgeons prefer a scalpel that has heft.
One solution to these problems is to provide a metal handle, typically stainless steel, into which a disposable blade assembly may be inserted. The metal handle provides a desired heft and replacing the blade assembly is less expensive than disposing the entire scalpel. However, the blade assembly replacement devices presently utilized have complicated mechanisms structured to selectively hold or release the blade assembly. Such complicated devices have multiple areas, colloquially called “nooks and crannies,” in which blood, or even small pieces of flesh, may become trapped. When biological material becomes trapped in the scalpel handle, sterilization becomes difficult, if not impossible.